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Are in-wall speakers worth considering?

We're adding a family room to our house. It would probably be the best room in the house acoustically, but there will be too much going on in there to set up normal speakers properly. Are any in-wall speakers capable of providing decent sound?

The room dimensions will be about 14'W x 17'D x 9' H. The listening couch would be on the long wall, and the speakers would be mounted on the opposite wall (that is, firing across the shorter length of the room) and would have to be almost 10' apart due to placement of doors and windows. The floor will be carpeted. I'm sure I could squeeze a subwoofer into the room.

Thanks for any suggestions!
dbz
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porschecab
336 posts
 
Yes, indeed. There are alot of high end manufacturers competing right now.

Top ends are in the Triad, SpeakerCraft Starlets, James, and of course the Energy Veritas and many others.

I say they ARE worth considering.

Dan
cytocycle
1,043 posts
 
Yes I replaced my 5.1 full range system with inwalls Check out the High end Niles 8700 and 8500 nice three ways that actually have bass! And they aren't etched at all in the top. If you check out my systems you will see that I put my velodyne 18" behind the couch and now I don't even have to use my couch shakers for effects!
dbz OP
14 posts
 
Nice system, Cytocycle!

So can these Niles speakers produce a decent stereo soundstage? I wouldn't be using 5 of them like you are.

Thanks.

--DZ
classical1
168 posts
 
Please don't do it. I liken it to going from a sports car to a mini-van. I had a buddy who was a audiophile who did this--his wife was thrilled, but to me it sounded like bose music. My comments are totally unfair as i have not heard the above systems that have been recommended, but the few inwall installations i heard were not even close to a dedicated 2 channel system. Be careful not to spiral into a midlife crisis!
mikelavigne
2,199 posts
 
do you know any musicians that play inside walls?

music is valid on any level.....so if the lifestyle issues are sufficiently important then in-wall is just fine. but there will be significant limitations to what the system can do.

i have a full house B&O system with wall-mounted speakers......they are just fine for what they do......but they cannot replace any of my other systems for sound quality and are primarily for background (semi-elevator type) music.

in many Home Theatres in-walls can work well for surrounds......but anywhere you want vocals or instruments to sound real...in-walls are not the best choice.
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